The COVID-19 health crisis should be seen as a clarion call to “fundamentally rethink our relationship” with natural ecosystems and shrinking biodiversity, the UN cultural agency chief said on Friday, World Environment Day.

COVID-19 is complicating an already complex security situation in the Sahel, with terrorist groups exploiting the pandemic as they step up attacks on national and international forces, the UN’s peacekeeping chief said on Friday.

Nearly 30 independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council are calling for the United States to reform its criminal justice system in the wake of a recent spate of killings of African Americans, including at the hands of the police.

Last month was the warmest May on record and carbon dioxide levels also hit a new high despite the economic slowdown from COVID-19, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday, in an urgent appeal for Member States to renew their efforts to tackle climate threats.

On this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the UN is drawing links between the health of the planet, and human health, and highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity, the system that supports life.